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WEST PALM BEACH | The devastating earthquake that shook Japan caused a temporary jolt in groundwater levels throughout much of Florida, officials said.

The South Florida Water Management District reports that a network of groundwater gauges registered a jump of up to three inches in the water table from Orlando to the Florida Keys about 34 minutes after the quake struck on March 11.

The oscillations were observed for about two hours and then stabilized.

The Floridan aquifer underlies all of Florida, south Georgia, and parts of both Alabama and South Carolina.'

The Floridan aquifer has developed over eons, and the development has been unevenly distributed. The Floridan aquifer is composed of several carbonate rock formations that are connected by water flow to make one hydrologic unit, which is why the development has been uneven.' The flow system of the aquifer has been interrupted by two different things: man's activities such as pumpage, impoundments, and dredging as well as deviation from normal amounts of rainfall. The disruption of the aquifer's flow could begin at almost any point on its path. The aquifer's water originates in the larger bodies of water of the Appalachain region, it flows downstream until it is forced underground. The aquifer flows from the higher altitudes of North Georgia and South Carolina to the flatter area which is Florida. This body of water has some very wide areas as well as tiny tributaries. As it flows further to the South it branches into smaller and smaller "streams".